


Untouchable Pt. 1

by Decaykid



Series: Unyielding [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Behavior, Drug Withdrawal, Gen, M/M, Pseudo-Incest, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 06:42:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17996861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Decaykid/pseuds/Decaykid
Summary: Klaus wants to explore this new aspect of his powers with Ben, but Diego and Five want Klaus to help them in their hunt for Leonard- Harold? Stuck in the car with a bickering Diego and Five on a long ride with nothing but his thoughts to preoccupy him as he continues to go through withdrawals is the last place he wants to be as the impending Apocalypse encroaches by the hour...





	Untouchable Pt. 1

 

 

 

 

“We need to go after her.”

 

“Vanya is not important.”

 

_“You just Patrick Swayzed me.”_

 

_"No. You did... I think.”_

 

_“You just barely scratched the surface of your potential.”_

 

Klaus can still feel the warm ache in his cheek as he absentmindedly chews his finger nails while Diego and Five’s bickering fade in and out of the background of his thoughts.

 

Ben had hit him.

 

_Hard._

 

Somehow, some way, his physical form had been manifested.

 

He wonders if he can just sneak off while his brothers are arguing about how to best handle the end of the world.

 

Would they even notice that he was gone?

 

“Harold Jenkins is our first priority.”

 

“I agree, let’s go.”

 

Oh, well isn’t that inconvenient.

 

“You guys count me out. I mean, you know, no offense or whatever. It’s just... I kind of feel like this is a whole lot of pressure for newly-sober me, so ... “

 

It’s honesty, to a degree. Yesterday’s long ride in a car was rough, even before finding Allison bleeding to near-death on Leonard... Harold’s? floor. Five had to pull over twice so he wouldn’t puke in the car and he’s certain he must’ve sweat through the leather seat, but the aches and the shivering had been the worst. And he’s not ready to go through all that again, not while being cooped up in the car listening to Five and Diego argue about which route to take and why while muttering insults none-too-quietly under their breath.

 

“You’re coming.” Diego says with finality.

 

“No, no, no.”

 

They don’t understand. This isn’t a debate, this isn’t a passive aggressive attempt at attention... no matter how much they misread his actions.

 

He just wants to stay here. Isn’t that enough for them to understand?

 

“I mean, I think we can all agree that my power’s ... I mean, it’s pretty much useless. I’d just be holding you guys back.”

 

“Klaus get up.” Five commands, and Klaus wonders when everyone decided they’re single handedly the authority now.

 

“You can’t make me.” He counters back with vigor.

 

They’re all adults here. Their Dad is gone. No one _has_ to listen to anyone. He’s his own person with his own agency with his own idea of how he wants to spend the last day on earth, and he _really_ wants to go back up to the room with Ben...

 

Something tells him to move the moment he sees Diego reaching for his belt, and before he can blink, there’s a knife quivering between his feet at an uncomfortably close proximity from his leather clad crotch.

 

He sighs as as he goes through several emotions: anger, fear, shock, disbelief then finally settles on a subdued annoyance as he begrudgingly submits.

 

“Oh, then again,” he says as he pulls himself from the couch, “a little exercise couldn’t hurt.”

 

Ben and his new found powers will just have to wait.

 

 

 

He dreams, but there’s no sound. Colors move, his brain is burning. Something feels off, unsettled. It makes him nervous, puts him on edge. Something shifts. He can’t breath.

 

The car rocks, then the door closes.

 

“Anything?”

 

“No.”

 

Klaus’ eyes snap open. He’s stunned for a moment, two, and slowly realization comes back to him.

 

Diego, Five and himself are in the car looking for Vanya and her... whatever he is. To stop the apocalypse.

 

Harold.

 

Or is it Leonard?

 

“You okay?”

 

Five.

 

He’s talking to him.

 

Klaus slowly pulls his head from the window to blink tiredly at his brother.

 

Everything feels slow, muddled, like maybe he’s still asleep.

 

Was he asleep? Was he dreaming? It felt feverish, like a nightmare when he’s sick or a bad trip.

 

His gaze moves to the rear view mirror, but he only sees Diego in the backseat.

 

“Klaus?” Five repeats, he almost sounds concerned.

 

“Yeah.” He answers simply. “Peachy.”

 

He wishes Ben were here. He’d give Klaus one of those encouraging looks, maybe even a smile- one with his dimples, and Klaus would think that maybe he could pull through this.

 

He just has to breath.

 

It’s a waiting game, he reminds himself with an ache that’s longing for something other then drugs or alcohol.

 

It’s an ache he’s been trying to numb for a little over a decade now, one that started when he first heard those awful, fateful words:

 

_“Ben’s dead.”_

 

You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

 

Klaus didn’t realize what Ben meant to him until he suddenly wasn’t there anymore, didn’t realize what his presence meant until there was nobody for him to turn to anymore.

 

No more sneaking into his room at night, when the ghosts became too much. No more trips to Grilly’s Donuts after a mission, when Ben would be the most quiet and Klaus would do whatever to bring that smile back on to his face. No more hanging out after training sessions as they worked on their homework together. No more binge watching movies until Grace would gently chide them, telling them it’s past their bed time. No more waking to see Ben’s resting face as the relight from the rising sun would spill into the room through curtains. No more falling asleep with Ben beside him, the two huddled beneath the sheets, clinging to each other like they’re their only saving grace, their only life line, their only comfort in the harsh world they lived in where children are named The Horror and The Seance.

 

The ache got worse however, after Ben returned to him.

 

His absence made Klaus realize his feelings for him. But when he came back...

 

Klaus realized it was too late. He had missed his chance, and Ben’s ghost was just a reminder of everything that could’ve been, if he had realized sooner.

 

It’s not like he could ask Ben to leave, either. As much as seeing him hurts, it gives him comfort too. He could never be with Ben in the way that he wanted, but he’d gladly take this too.

 

Maybe it’s cause he can’t move on, can’t let go.

 

He’s considered before, maybe he’s the one that’s preventing Ben from moving on and having ... whatever it is that waits on the other side of life.

 

And maybe Klaus could move on, if he let Ben move on.

 

Maybe the reason he was able to make a real connection with Dave was because he didn’t have all his emotional baggage hovering over him in the form of his dead brother.

 

Klaus closes his eyes against an oncoming wave of nausea; he’s not sure if it’s from the withdrawals or all the emotional turmoil.

 

It doesn’t matter, Klaus thinks. Dave is gone, and in the past. Klaus wasn’t able to conjure him. But Ben is here, and Klaus has a way of bringing him back, even if arbitrarily, even if temporary.

 

And that has to mean something, right?

 

 

 

He’s feeling halfway decent and partially human. The Anti-Apocalypse Brigade has stopped for breakfast, and while Klaus hasn’t had much of an appetite, he did manage to get some food down. Eggs and orange juice, that’s what he had ordered, and he made a mental note to tell Ben if he ever sees him before the end of the world.

 

And if not, Klaus just supposed he could tell him in the after life, assuming they end up in the same place.

 

“How are we doing it this time?” Diego asks as Five parks the car on the side of the road.

 

This time?

 

“Well, unless Harold’s has his window fixed sense we were last here, I’d say we can just let ourselves in through the little... _entrance_ you made.”

 

Klaus decided not to ask and simply follows his brother’s into the house, although he does note the busted window on the front door that Five reaches through to unlock the door.

 

Walking into the house reveals a mess, like a tornado had come through and blown everything around.

 

“Ugh ... guys?”

 

It’s unexpected to say the least, though the more Klaus thinks about it, the more he realizes it makes sense they’re not completely surprised, even if discounting their unconventional upbringing and the circumstances thereupon.

 

Of course Diego wouldn’t be phased by a corpse with dozens of knives in it, that’s totally his thing. And Five, from what Klaus has gathered, is ... was ? ... some kind of time traveling mercenary. As for Klaus himself, well, he’s seen his fair share of body horror in the apparitions that come to visit. This hardly tops the list. It’s different for sure, but it’s definitely not the most gruesome thing he’s seen.

 

At least Jenkins’ organs are still in place.

 

A wave of exhaustion suddenly hits Klaus, and it feels like the last week has caught up to him all at once. He half sighs, half groans and he leans forward, resting his hands on his knees in a feeble attempt to hold himself up.

 

He needs a bath.

 

Or a nap.

 

Or a hit.

 

“That’s not exactly what I was expecting.”

 

“The understatement of the year.”

 

“No sign of Vanya.” He points out- will this chase ever end?

 

“Let’s get out of here, before the cops come.”

 

Finally, the first words that have been uttered that Klaus is relieved to hear.

 

He and Diego turn and step in sync, Klaus is too busy thinking about returning home to Ben to consider that Diego is eager to not spend another night in jail for leaving even more evidence at yet another murder scene.

 

“In a minute.”

 

Klaus’ stomach drops, and he wonders if he should’ve skipped breakfast.

 

Regardless, he reminds himself he’s here because they asked him to be, and he barracks to watch curiously as Five bends over Leonard’s corpse as he fishes the prosthetic eyeball from his pocket. He leans heavily against his knees again as Five peels away the boy’s eyepatch.

 

“Come on, Five, what are you ...”

 

“Ugh, wow.”

 

Well, this is certainly higher on the list now, and apparently not all of his organs were in place...

 

Beside him, Diego swallows down a gag.

 

“Same eye color, same pupil size. Guys this is it! The eye I’ve been carrying around for decades, it... it’s found its rightful home.”

 

Klaus nods encouragingly, though politely. He’s happy that Five has found his closure, or whatever it is that this moment is bringing him, but he’d really like to wrap this up, he has somewhere he needs to be.

 

“We got the guy we needed to kill to stop the apocalypse.”

 

They did what they set out to do. Now, then can finally leave and Klaus can go back to where he should’ve never left in the first place.

 

“Yaaay,” He says, doing a little celebratory fist, “let’s go.”

 

He turns, takes a step, but Diego is grabbing him by the shirt and tagging him back, nearly making Klaus loose his balance in the process as he struggles just to keep himself upright.

 

“No, no. Wait, wait. It can’t be this easy.”

 

Klaus wants to call them paranoid, wants to argue that they should recognize luck when they see it but then again, he never did so well in their logistics training.

 

Dad always said he was too naive.

 

“Look, this is the note that I got from the Commission. The one that says, ‘Protect Harold Jenkins’, aka Leonard Peabody...”

 

He doesn’t have time for this.

 

Literally.

 

The end of the world is near. He should be spending it with Ben. Not standing here listening to Five and Diego have yet another ego-filled debate as they try to decide what to do next and why.

 

Isn’t that how this whole trip started?

 

“But who killed him? Who did this?”

 

“I have a crazy idea. Crazy, but why don’t we find Vanya...” Five jumps from the room, but Klaus is used to be ignored, and he continues “... and ask her what happened?”

 

“If Vanya got away from this asshole, she might be headed back to the Academy.”

 

As Klaus gets back into the car, he wonders not for the first time why Diego wasn’t Number One. The car ride back is quiet, and Klaus spends it dosing as he eagerly awaits to return home.


End file.
